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December 04, 2018

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New York City is drowning in so many frivolous lawsuits over everything from food packaging to the design of retail websites that the city’s court system has become one of the nation’s worst places for civil justice, according to a new report by the American Tort Reform Association.

The Long Island Rail Road said it is losing about $20 million a year in unpaid fares, but many riders say it’s the agency’s own fault for overcrowded trains that make it impossible for conductors to walk through and collect tickets.

A judge rejected a motion filed by the state attorney general’s office that sought to reargue the dismissal of criminal charges against Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel Abelove over his handling of a fatal police shooting case.

The state’s largest teachers union, New York State United Teachers, during the past year following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Janus decision saw a 6 percent drop in the number of people who pay either regular dues or special fees.

A Manhattan federal judge criticized former LPCiminelli CEO Louis Ciminelli for playing dumb about bid-rigging contracts paid for by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion program before sentencing him to 28 months in prison.

With the number of homeless people in New York City still hovering at record levels, de Blasio plans to announce a deal that’s almost complete to convert 468 shelter apartments into permanent, affordable apartments for the homeless.

The company that supplies New York City with its voting machines paid for city Board of Elections Executive Director Michael Ryan to take trips to conferences around the country, and Ryan was unable to produce the proper waivers for those trips.

Rep. Elise Stefanik is stepping back from her role at the National Republican Congressional Committee, where she had been the first female head of recruitment, to be involved where she thinks it matters – primaries.

Queens Borough President Melinda Katz announced that she is running for Queens district attorney, joining a growing field of Democrats in the race to succeed longtime Queens District Attorney Richard Brown, who is not expected to seek another term

A former staffer for Huntington Supervisor Chad Lupinacci filed a lawsuit alleging his then-boss sexually harassed him while serving as an assemblyman and assaulted him in an Albany hotel room last year.

After spending much of his re-election campaign trashing President Donald Trump on issues like immigration, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced he will hold his New Year’s Day third-term inauguration ceremony on Ellis Island.

De Blasio’s proposal to change the admission process to some of New York City’s most elite public high schools is running into vehement objections from parents at community meetings where his team is trying to generate support.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration had decided to replace Office of Emergency Management Commissioner Joseph Esposito several weeks ago, well before a November snowstorm paralyzed the city, but then the transition plan went off the rails.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said he was frustrated by the terms of the debate over whether state lawmakers should receive their first legislative pay raise in 20 years, namely that the raise be tied to a ban or limit on outside outcome.

When it comes to pay raises, our state legislators just want more money, but the people want corruption in Albany stopped, and that cleanup has to start with a ban on almost all outside income for Assembly and state Senate members.

Bumbling sensitive personnel calls is no way to run a big city, or even a small town, as de Blasio did when his Office of Emergency Management commissioner was left in a state of limbo for days after his supposed firing.

ThriveNYC, the mental health initiative, is a perfectly fine project for the New York City’s first lady to helm, but we see no reason why city taxpayers should fund Chirlane McCray’s efforts to push those policies nationwide.

Nearly four dozen incoming House Democrats told their future leaders that they should prioritize action on health care, immigration, gun control and other topics over investigations into the Trump administration.

President Donald Trump wasted little time after returning from a global summit in Argentina before lashing out at Robert Mueller, kicking off a week in which the special counsel’s Russia probe could bring major new headaches for Trump.

A bipartisan group of senior senators said that a classified briefing by the CIA director had only solidified their belief that Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, ordered the killing of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi.

As New York City’s subway system struggles with aggravating delays, a spirited debate has erupted over why riders are abandoning the system, but subway officials say ridership is not down, fare evasion is up.

Although New York passed Raise the Age legislation in 2017, raising the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18, for some teens whose cases were pending when Raise the Age went into effect, the old system is still in place.

Formed in 1981, 19 years before New York state had even passed a hate crime law, the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force is the second-oldest such unit in the country and has a remarkable record of solving cases.

The 2018 election cycle in New York laid bare the myriad failings of the state’s political system that advocates and reform-minded elected officials have long recognized, and for the first time, voters seem to be paying attention to it.

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As founder and research director of the Empire Center for Public Policy, E.J. McMahon is a go-to expert on budget plans and policy proposals. His organization promotes greater transparency, accountability and fiscal responsibility in state government, which often puts him at odds with lawmakers and the governor. McMahon previously worked as a journalist in Albany, as an Assembly Republican staffer and a budget adviser for almost 30 years, giving him great insight into the goings-on in the Capitol.